About three dozen people got sick after attending an event in Beaumont this month, including a 1-year-old who suffered seizures that night, and health officials are investigating what the source may have been and whether all of the symptoms are due to a food-borne illness.

The Fat Greek Restaurant in Yucaipa catered the event, which co-owner Chris Houvardas said was a baby shower. Houvardas insisted his food was not to blame, noting that people at the party brought their own food as well, and that there was a very sick child in attendance. “On our side, they did everything the way they’re supposed to do,” he said of his staff.

The baby shower took place Jan. 6, and health officials said about 70 people attended. That night and into the next morning, 38 of them became ill with symptoms from nausea and dizziness to diarrhea and vomiting, according to a report by San Bernardino County’s Division of Environmental Health Services. It didn’t identify any of the people involved or where in Beaumont the event took place.

Environmental Health has been investigating the restaurant, while the Disease Control Branch of Riverside County’s health department is interviewing the people who got sick because most of them live in Riverside County. The investigations have not been completed, but they could result in corrective action against the Fat Greek if any issues are found to have contributed to the outbreak, an Environmental Health spokeswoman said.

Several people were sick enough that they went to the emergency room or urgent care, according to the report. Paramedics were called for the baby who was having seizures.

Whether the seizures were directly connected to the food-borne illness is unclear. Barbara Cole, head of disease control in Riverside County, didn’t have information such as whether the child had a history of seizures, what the doctor’s findings had been or how the child is doing now.

“I could not say a little one with a seizure was due to this outbreak,” she said.

Like Houvardas, Cole also noted that some of the food eaten at the event was homemade, and said her agency is still evaluating what caused the illness.

A restaurant inspector visited the Fat Greek on Jan. 11 to begin a thorough investigation, including interviewing the operator about how food is prepared and examining equipment.

All of the food tested that day was within a safe temperature range, but the inspector did find that a produce refrigerator was 50 degrees at the bottom rack, which is not within the safe range. However, the operator told the inspector all of the ingredients that needed to be kept cold for the Jan. 6 catered event would have been in a different refrigerator that was working properly.

A graded inspection also was conducted Jan. 11, resulting in a score of 84, a B grade, which San Bernardino County considers “generally acceptable.” The one major violation was for an employee not washing hands before putting on gloves and making a salad; there also were 10 lesser violations. Online records that go back to 2014 show the restaurant has been inspected seven other times during those years and received all A grades.

Houvardas defended his restaurant’s practices.

“I work my butt off to keep a clean place,” he said. “You could eat off the floor here.”

He said all of the food he served that day came from the same supplier he’s used for years and that supplies other area restaurants. He said employees nibbled on some of the food that was left over as they were breaking down the event, and none of them got sick. And no customers who ate the same dishes served at the restaurant over the weekend reported getting sick, he said.

The Fat Greek Restaurant has been in Yucaipa for 13 years, said Houvardas, who described his business as “a family affair.”

“Our reputation, we really try to take care of it,” he said.

Cole said her agency investigates one or two food-borne illness outbreaks per year; a recent investigation was into a wedding in San Timoteo Canyon in September where more than 30 people were sickened. However, she said it’s unusual for cases to involve so many patients.

Cole recommended frequent handwashing as a way to avoid getting sick. She also said that if food doesn’t taste or seem right, people should stop eating it. And if someone does get sick, they should contact a health care provider so they can be assessed.

The department also conducts outreach with medical professionals to make sure they’re aware of reporting requirements so outbreaks like this one can be discovered and investigated.

Nikie Johnson is a data reporter for Southern California News Group, using numbers and public records to uncover meaningful stories. If she can color-code a spreadsheet, it’s a good day. Previously she was breaking news editor for SCNG’s Inland newspapers (The Press-Enterprise, the Sun, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Redlands Daily Facts) and all sorts of things for the P-E before that (web/social editor, Hemet bureau editor, copy editor, salsa maker in chief). She’s a proud University of Houston alumna and a native Nebraska Cornhusker.